5th grade practice ending at 830pm next fall.

[Anonymous]

It has nothing to do with school start times - at least in MCPS. It has to do with more kids participating in activities and not enough gym space. The overcrowded schools means more kids which means more kids in activities. Meanwhile, not enough gyms. So, everyone shifts to later start and end times...

[Anonymous]

That was the originally scheduled time for our DD's basketball pratice, too (5th/6th grade team).

It felt super late to me, in part because DD has a hard time winding down after practice so it takes longer than usual to fall asleep.

Happily, the coaches were parent volunteers and they ended up cutting practice back to 7-8. It's only a half hour, but it made a big difference for DD, I think.

[Anonymous]

Try swim team practice that ends at 9pm when your middle schooler gets up at 5:50 am. And it is 4 times a week. Everyone in our house is exhausted. But it is temporary (and yes needs to be that way to work around the pool schedule).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is on the late schedule for MCPS. School starts at 9:25am. There is no reason why there can't be practices starting at 8am or even earlier.

Just like the after school practices when parents work, carpools would be established

Are you coaching something at this time? Can I join? That would be great! Do you know of facilities that are staffed and available in this timeframe? My early risers would love this! I guess we would have to build in shower time between practice and school. I did not think to look for this when looking for leagues. Is it a real thing?

My daughter did Girls on the Run in elementary school in part for that reason: it was a good way of getting in some exercise and fun before school started at 9:25, without interfering with homework, dinner or bedtime.

Her bus didn't get her home until about 4:20, so it was tough on all of us to do homework, eat dinner, squeeze in an activity (including travel to and from), shower, and still be in bed reading by 8. Anything that resulted in a bedtime later than 8:30 has always been a deal-breaker for us, because she needs another hour to actually fall asleep, no matter how tired she is, and too much activity close to bedtime makes it worse.

But 8am GotR practice worked perfectly for all of us, especially since it was at the school, so nobody had to pick her up afterward.

Yes, but Girls on the Run is staffed by teacher volunteers. Completely different kind of program.

[Anonymous]

So really, at some point you just need to adjust to the fact that your child is getting older and their schedule will reflect that fact. Or you opt them out for whatever reasons you have and the child loses their team/experience. I am going to have her play. Whatever downside of time, does not out weight the benefits of the activity. I can be flexible and readjust to the new stage of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is on the late schedule for MCPS. School starts at 9:25am. There is no reason why there can't be practices starting at 8am or even earlier.

Just like the after school practices when parents work, carpools would be established

Are you coaching something at this time? Can I join? That would be great! Do you know of facilities that are staffed and available in this timeframe? My early risers would love this! I guess we would have to build in shower time between practice and school. I did not think to look for this when looking for leagues. Is it a real thing?

My daughter did Girls on the Run in elementary school in part for that reason: it was a good way of getting in some exercise and fun before school started at 9:25, without interfering with homework, dinner or bedtime.

Her bus didn't get her home until about 4:20, so it was tough on all of us to do homework, eat dinner, squeeze in an activity (including travel to and from), shower, and still be in bed reading by 8. Anything that resulted in a bedtime later than 8:30 has always been a deal-breaker for us, because she needs another hour to actually fall asleep, no matter how tired she is, and too much activity close to bedtime makes it worse.

But 8am GotR practice worked perfectly for all of us, especially since it was at the school, so nobody had to pick her up afterward.

Yes, but Girls on the Run is staffed by teacher volunteers. Completely different kind of program.

Our school's coaches are volunteers but not teachers. No different than any other volunteer-run sports team.